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Pentagon confirms air strike on French IS member

The Pentagon has confirmed that an airstrike targeted French jihadist Rachid Kassim but has yet to establish whether the Islamic State (IS) armed group member was killed. Meanwhile, four people accused of planning a terror attack in France were still in custody after being arrested on Friday.

"We can confirm that coalition forces targeted Rachid Kassim, a senior Isis operative, near Mosul in a strike in the past 72 hours," said Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian JT Rankine-Galloway. "We are currently assessing the results of that strike and will provide more information when it becomes available."

The 29-year-old Egyptian is still in hospital after being shot during the course of the attack.

Investigators have found that he sent two money orders for 5,000 euros to a compatriot based in Poland, sources say, but he has said that he acted alone and no organisation has claimed responsibility for his act.

Teacher acquitted for false attack claim

A teacher who was charged with reporting a false crime after claiming to have been stabbed with a box cutter at his school near Paris was acquitted on Friday.

Prosecutors had appealed against an earlier acquittal and called for a four-month suspended sentence but the court found that evidence cited against him was insufficient.

The 45-year-old told police that he had inflicted injuries on himself to expose what he considered inadequate security at his school.

But the statement was made while he was in hospital on morphine and without having a lawyer present and later retracted.